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Big Cats 24 7 S02E04 Reunion Episode 24 Engsub
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00:02Chaos
00:05There's cats everywhere
00:08The mums of the Kudum Pride have reunited
00:13But with so many mouths to feed
00:16They're under more pressure than ever before
00:19There is Bedlam out there
00:21Oh my goodness
00:26The Okavango Delta
00:28In Botswana
00:30We are in a pristine environment right now
00:32One of Africa's last wildernesses
00:36The magnitude of life here is unparalleled
00:39And it's a haven for Africa's big cats
00:44Lion
00:46Cheetah
00:47And leopard
00:49Big cat country
00:51Armed with the latest filming technology
00:54The big cats 24-7 team
00:58Is following individual big cats
01:00For six months
01:02This is a unique opportunity
01:04To follow these cats round the clock
01:07Through the day
01:09I used to think I'd have a fair fight with a lion
01:13Not so sure now
01:14And the night
01:16We've got the most sophisticated thermal imaging technologies
01:21Capturing their behaviour
01:2424 hours a day
01:25I have never seen anything like this
01:29I have never seen anything like this
01:38Oh it's gone
01:39No
01:40Oh so close
01:41So close
01:43Ah
01:44Don't believe this
01:46I don't think any of them got anything
01:49Nah
01:50Nah
01:50There was a dust ball that it got lost in
01:57Gordon and Setz are with the Kudum Pride mums
02:00And they're 14 cubs
02:03This is now a huge pride
02:07We've got over 20 lions here
02:11There's Naledi
02:13Nasi
02:14Makosi
02:15Magogo
02:15Mato
02:16And Sebi
02:21It's a big pride
02:22And it's also a fossil we reckon with
02:29The problem is
02:30With so many lions
02:32Hanging out together
02:33That is a lot of mouths to feed
02:38The mums have banded together for safety
02:41But now
02:42Have a new challenge
02:45I feel sorry for these girls
02:47I feel sorry for these girls
02:48We haven't seen these lions get a significant meal in a few days
02:54Lioness Sebi has more cubs to feed than any other mum in the pride
03:01Sebi is an incredible mum
03:02To raise four cubs to this stage
03:06To raise four cubs to this stage
03:07Is no mean feat
03:08To raise four cubs to this stage
03:09But that little one looking very skinny
03:16He's definitely not kind enough to eat
03:21Sebi's smallest cub
03:23Is struggling
03:25See how bony its
03:27Pelvis is
03:30Every day that passes
03:32That little cub's going to be getting weaker and weaker
03:35Becoming more and more vulnerable
03:42Sebi's spotted something
03:45The lions are up
03:48I hope this time is a success
03:58She's running, running, running
04:02Go, go, go, go
04:12I don't think that they've been successful
04:16Sebi's running on empty
04:21It's vital that Sebi catches a meal soon
04:26Hard luck
04:27Boys and girls
04:28That was a shame
04:30If she's to keep herself
04:32And her cub
04:33Alive
04:36Can't catch a meal
04:37Quick enough
04:47Tristan, Tristan
04:49Go, Brad
04:51D-Bears and cub
04:53Got far north
04:55Copy that
04:56Last one, Brad
05:00Brad and Tristan
05:01Are with Ladiba the leopard
05:03And her five-month-old cub
05:07This cub looks like it's in good mech
05:10It's happy, definitely
05:12Looks in good shape
05:16It's really nice
05:17She's just brought the cub
05:18Draid past the car
05:19Mom just
05:21Really reassuring the cub
05:26How beautiful is that?
05:33Brad, Brad, Gordon
05:34We've got a male leopard in a tree
05:36Just at the edge of Ladiba's territory
05:40This makes me anxious
05:44They have such a high-density leopards in this area
05:48And if there's a male and he thinks that this cub is not his
05:52There's a good chance that he'll kill them
05:57Male leopards kill cubs that are not their own
06:01So they can mate with the females
06:04So keeping them on the move every four or five days to a new location is smart
06:13I think this might be the new little kindergarten for a while
06:21Ladiba must keep her cub well hidden
06:24Nice thick forest with a lot of cover
06:34At this time of year the flood plains of the Okavango Delta are filled with water
06:42Pushing all the big cats in the area closer together
06:48I've managed to find another big male leopard
06:53Starting to get seriously concerned
06:57We just keep on finding male after male after male
07:00That's a big problem
07:06It's now more challenging than ever for Ladiba to keep her cub safe
07:12Looks like mom is starting to snarl at the cub
07:19That's their way of saying, okay, now you stay
07:24Get used to your new home
07:29The cub knows exactly what it means
07:38Ladiba is heading off to hunt
07:41It's amazing that they can communicate like that
07:44Leaving her cub alone
07:47Mom has to just trust that she's gonna stay concealed
08:10Hey, big girl.
08:13Gordon is with Sebe and the pride mums and cubs.
08:18They're looking hungry.
08:21Looks like it's going to be a busy night for them.
08:24They've got lots of little bellies to fill.
08:29Ready, one, two, three.
08:32To see if they can catch a meal,
08:33the team is deploying some brand-new night vision kit.
08:38This is a beast of a camera.
08:40It's a much higher resolution.
08:42Longer reach, yeah.
08:43You've got line of sight for two or three kilometers in some areas,
08:46so presumably if there's action way over there,
08:49you'll be able to pick it up on this.
08:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:56The sun has set,
08:58and the night is full of opportunities.
09:04I have never in my whole life seen this number of lions moving together,
09:11particularly at night.
09:13It's unreal.
09:16Scary as hell, though.
09:18If you were an antelope archer, that is just death.
09:26Just using the thermal drone to get a sense of the direction that the lions are taking.
09:34It looks like the lionesses can hear something in this tree line.
09:43This looks like Sebe.
09:46With four hungry cubs to feed,
09:50Sebe is taking the lead again.
09:53Gordon, we've got Sebe on our side moving through the tree line.
09:58This time, more of the mums are joining her.
10:04I've got the drone up quite high,
10:06and there's lots of impala in there.
10:08Copy that.
10:09If the lions can get close enough and outsmart them with teamwork,
10:13hopefully they're going to win.
10:20Sebe's done a big loop round,
10:22and if she can just sneak in,
10:25they're going to scatter,
10:27and they could very well head in the direction of the other lions.
10:38They're running.
10:44Oh, look at that.
10:47In the pitch dark,
10:50the lions' powerful night vision
10:55All of them got it.
10:57Gives them the edge.
10:59Oh, my goodness.
11:01Mons, cubs,
11:02all spreading in.
11:07Given that it's such a small meal,
11:09split between this many lions,
11:11a little impala like that,
11:13it is less than the crust of a sandwich for each of them.
11:19It's really not going to go far.
11:23Sebe is only getting a few bites.
11:26Cabo is trying to sneak in, but they're not getting much space.
11:30And her cubs are getting nothing at all.
11:35When it gets to this point, when they're super hungry,
11:38it is every lion for themselves.
11:40The cubs get no special treatment.
11:45Oh, my gosh.
11:46One of these cubs is trying to pull a piece of meat
11:49through the sub-adult male's legs.
11:56Oh, no.
11:58The cubs are struggling to get any meat.
12:02The mums must take priority.
12:06If they're not strong enough to hunt,
12:09no one gets fed.
12:12Sebi's little cub, he's in the toughest position.
12:15He's the smallest of this part of the pride.
12:18And he's less able to actually fight
12:20and get access to the food that he desperately needs.
12:27The adult lions have devoured the impala in minutes.
12:35The best chance they've got of everyone getting the food that they need
12:38is if they catch something big.
12:42To feed herself and her cub, Sebi must target larger prey.
12:49Zebra would go further.
12:50Buffalo would even further than that.
12:53But, yeah.
12:56Sebi's cub still needs to feed.
13:20Tristan, I've got her here.
13:21She's just crossed over.
13:24Brad is on the trail of Ladiba.
13:27She's definitely hungry and hunting.
13:30And Tristan is just a few hundred meters away.
13:35Got a big male rapper here.
13:36Not too sure who it is.
13:45It's not good.
13:47Let's hope Ladiba he doesn't push too far across.
13:54This boy seems to be quite active.
13:56Rubbing himself up against trees and scent marking.
14:01This unknown male is on the border of Ladiba's territory.
14:11This is a very high-stakes situation for Ladiba.
14:14This is where she lives, where she hunts, where her cub's growing up.
14:20Male leopards are extremely aggressive to females and their cubs.
14:24And if they aren't certain that they're the father, they will kill them.
14:38He's approaching a tree.
14:42Oh, God. I see another left-up there.
14:46It looks like a female, eh?
14:48I don't recognize this girl.
14:52It's not Ladiba.
14:56This guy looks angry.
15:05You're...
15:06Oh, wow.
15:09To assert their dominance...
15:12He's just mumbling and grumbling and just giving these deep guttural noises that are, to be honest, quite terrifying.
15:19Males will sometimes attack females.
15:23She can hopefully just get out of it by hiding on the lighter branches.
15:31F***, he's just gone straight up to the top.
15:33Sorry.
15:35F***, that was insane.
15:46F***, that was insane.
15:58and he just seems completely unfazed by it with yet another male establishing himself in the area
16:09Brad Brad this aggressive male is very keen to show everyone who's boss
16:18that's not a good sign the deeper will have to work even harder to keep herself and her cub safe
16:31this is
16:32really really scary for Ladiba so slightly to the left to check on Ladiba's cub Tristan is rolling into a
16:52night shift well that's a relief
17:04little leopard cubs are very very strong climbers it's one of their biggest adaptations and reasons
17:12for survival mom can leave them by themselves they can climb up to the top of a tree very easily
17:17and
17:17get away from predators these cats are very very inquisitive at this age after 24 hours alone the
17:31cub is getting restless it's like watching a toddler basically the world is their oyster and they you
17:39know just ready to explore ready to learn and there she goes she's come down the backhand side of the
17:46tree
17:49and now we're on a little bit of a roaming mission
18:00there's any number of dangers out here for a young leopard cub
18:25this cub obviously heard mom calling ran off into the floodplain after her very very eager to meet mom
18:42now we're moving
18:45it's just a complete relief that the the cub is all fine and all is good and mom looks like
18:51she's gonna
18:52move it now out of that area but figure out where they're going to be going
19:02my feeling is that she's probably going to go and find a new place to live
19:07with so many male leopards in the area she's going to move this cub through very very thick terrain
19:12um in an attempt to keep it safe and out of harm's way
19:24and stop
19:27all right so let's try and find them shall we
19:36why does it have to be so difficult
19:38why can't filming leopards just be easy
19:47good luck girl i'm done
20:11i absolutely love this time of day
20:15anna is following cheetah mom pabe
20:19it's when pobe is still touched up in bed and the cops are just playing around her
20:27now six months old her two cubs good morning kieran bow are maturing fast
20:40you can really see their little sibling bond
20:45they don't have the support of a pride
20:48but they've got each other they love each other so much and that is really really beautiful to see
20:58i've always just been a classic little brother winding his little sister up
21:04kia's not having any of it like no don't slap me in the face thank you very much
21:11cheetah cubs learn vital skills they need through play
21:16you can see the way that they stalk each other
21:20practicing their hunting
21:27over the next six months
21:29kia and beau will need to put these skills into action
21:34they've definitely been watching pobe
21:36and start to hunt alongside their mum
21:40things are going to start moving pretty quickly from here on out
21:43i'm really excited to see how kia and beau hone their hunting skills
21:47because their hunting has been entertaining but not super effective
21:58the cubs must now start taking life more seriously
22:03but they're not babies anymore
22:27they are approaching a massive herd of buffalo
22:31easily the largest
22:37so this is one hell of an opportunity
22:44sebe and the mums are hunting for something big enough
22:47to feed themselves and all of their cubs
22:51the desperation of the cats is very high they're all very hungry
22:55cubs have been nagging their moms and these lionesses are feeling the pressure to provide for such a huge pride
23:05buffalo are powerful and aggressive prey
23:11they're closing in on one of the most dangerous animals in the delta
23:17but a one-ton but a one-ton bull will easily feed the whole pride
23:22making it worth the risk
23:32jesus are oh my goodness me
23:40the lioness is right up the rump
23:45someone's clinging on like a fucking baronco
23:50jeepers creepers dealing with buffalo you can't afford to make any mistakes
23:55oh there's a little calf in there
23:58oh that's just okay we've got a buffalo moving in defending the calf
24:02oh
24:04sebi got a wallet by the bull
24:10back on the calf
24:15that's game over
24:19it's something but a calf is far from enough to feed the mold
24:28that's going to be a little bit of a
24:32one-to-one
24:32someone's getting beaten up
24:34hunger is turning the lions on each other
24:41the dangerous place to be a line cover on the small kill
24:47and you feel for service cup because he's really being pushed around and he's struggling to get his head in
24:52there
24:57oh
25:00service kauf has a wound
25:07hey gordon i can see it's a best cub the one that's been looking
25:12very skinny looks like he has a wound on the left side of his uh rib cage it looks pretty
25:20bad
25:21oh my gosh that's not good
25:26that injury on his side has picked that up either during the buffalo hunt or in the aftermath
25:34the cub is malnourished and now injured
25:41if he doesn't get the food to help him recover and heal his wound things could turn for the worse
25:48quite
25:53quickly
25:55seeing this cub in this condition is it's very hard to watch
26:12well can you see the empire up ahead
26:16well
26:17with pobe as their teacher
26:19cheetah cubs kia and bo are learning fast
26:23yeah she's going to them
26:28and she's gone
26:33oh the cubs are going straight in
26:39probably didn't even need to cool them
26:43the cubs already understand this is about fast food you need to just eat and leave
26:51that at meal times speed is of the essence
26:55meanwhile probably just sat guarding
26:58now they're at risk of predators coming in to steal this kill
27:05of all the big cats cheetahs are the most likely to have their meals stolen
27:12what's really cute is that it looks like beau is copying
27:19mum and there's also standing guard it's basically adopted the exact same stance
27:25and it's popping and it's looking out
27:30male cub beau is finally taking lessons seriously
27:36one of them is eating and one of them standing guard they're clearly learning really really fast
27:42these little cubs getting ready for the future
27:52bob is looking at something
28:01bob is crouching down a little bit
28:04what is going on
28:12oh there's a leopard there's a leopard
28:16okay it's going straight towards it
28:23really really don't want to get into a fight this would not be good
28:30this leopard could seriously injure an adult cheetah and kill a cub
28:39pobre is just staring at this leopard she's not going to let the leopard come anywhere near kiambo and also
28:47that meal
28:52but bobby's not backing down
29:00leopards run away
29:03oh my heart
29:08that was a seriously lucky escape typically a cheetah would run away from a leopard
29:19i've got a feeling due to kia and beau being here
29:24bobby knew she's got to stand ground she's got to take care of her cubs
29:31thanks to mum the cubs have learnt a vital lesson
29:37how to defend a meal
29:42cheetah cubs generally have such a tough start to life
29:48but these two have the most incredible mum
29:52who is just showing them the ropes every single day
30:06we have run into
30:08after vanishing with her cub
30:14oh so good to see you
30:16greg has found leopard mum ladiba
30:19oh man the last few weeks have been very stressful because there's been so many males really threatening the area
30:31oh gosh another one oh my word big male leopard
30:39this is bungway and he's the dominant male in this area he's fully mature about seven years old
30:48oh
30:49oh
30:50the deeper
30:52if the cub is nearby this is super dangerous situation
30:59bongway and the deba's territories overlap
31:03but male territories are four times larger than females
31:09whoa
31:13so interactions like this are rare
31:17he's about double her size and she's trying to push him off
31:26it's working
31:30this is insane
31:36the deba ballsy hey
31:39well the deba really can't afford to get injured here with a cub to protect
31:51absolutely unreal situation
31:58what is gonna happen here
32:08holy smokes here comes the cub oh gosh if bungway sees her this could be the end
32:18i cannot believe my eyes
32:28oh my gosh he's seen her
32:35oh my word he's not reacting at all
32:39there's only one reason why a male wouldn't kill a cub
32:43bongway must be her father
32:49that's amazing bongway is dad for sure
32:56that's cool i'm i'm stoked
33:00oh gosh that is heart-wrenching i thought that it could have been trouble for that little cub
33:05but now it looks like he's actually the defender
33:10fantastic go bongway
33:13although he'll play no active role in rearing his cub
33:18bongway will challenge any intruder male leopards in the area
33:23he's a formidable big male so i mean if there's any leopard that we wanted
33:28to be dad and to give us a sense of security for the cub it's bongway
33:37so happy day is for everybody involved
33:42what a magical little moment
34:02sebi the lady and the matto
34:06they've split off from the other lions and they're about kilometer away from the rest of the pride
34:16sebi's group are so hungry they're sacrificing safety and numbers to hunt on their own
34:24they've crossed over the channel and we have to do the same
34:40these cubs haven't eaten anything really in the last week and these lions are beginning to
34:47feel the pressure
34:52they were moving around with around 20 plus lines for most of the last week
34:57if you don't catch something big like a buffalo
35:00nick's best thing is to split up in smaller groups
35:05it's kind of weird things going on tonight there's sort of no prey out on the plains
35:10but quite a lot of stuff happening in the in the trees
35:20buffalo there
35:26with three of them there's a lot of reluctance to go for buffalo
35:35too big a challenge for this small number this isn't like catching impala or
35:41so severe evil zebra sebi motto and the lady are moving on
35:50i've lost them in the thick i cannot see a way through
35:59oh
36:01filming at night comes with its own challenges
36:04my challenge right now is my path is blocked by some hippos
36:09hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in africa
36:14you would want to block that path to the water
36:18a fully grown male hippo can weigh three tons
36:23they don't seem to want to move off just yet
36:27so i'm gonna have to wait for them to pass before i can't go back to camp
37:02i can see a cluster of lions over here
37:09then
37:09then
37:09sebi
37:10and the lady
37:11matu
37:13and their cubs
37:14gordon has caught up with them again
37:18mom and cubs are up
37:20and they're moving off
37:28and that one little cub the skinny one was fast asleep he's been left behind
37:36hey little guy wake up
37:50she may have even have called and all the cubs have just followed on
37:54but this one probably just because he's so tired
37:58he didn't get the memo
38:06the saddest sight ever
38:19and he's starting to call
38:29in his condition
38:31his call won't go far
38:34is it the ever breeze so no one's going to hear them
38:37they've gone too far away
38:50not only is he tired weak underfed injured now he's alone
39:01okay he's moving but he's going the wrong way
39:09the farther away he walks from where his mom left him
39:13the less chance he has of her finding him when she comes back
39:18with the flood pushing predators in the area together
39:23he won't survive long on his own
39:29there's leopards hyena other lions and he needs
39:33he needs his mom for protection
39:40he's just completely defenseless
39:55really nice to see her with the cub
40:00the deba and her cub are still in dad bongway's territory
40:06lots of playing jumping on each other and it's just a fantastic scene to witness it
40:14look at the cub
40:15too cute
40:24proud proud for tristan
40:26thank you
40:27i've got a male leopard here walking straight towards the diva and the cub
40:35It's the aggressive young male that Tristan previously found in the area.
40:42With younger males like this that aren't fully established,
40:46they've got a lot to prove.
40:48This guy's main role is going to be finding a territory,
40:53finding females to breed with.
40:56He's going to really be pushing in a very aggressive way.
41:02If this male ventures into Ladiba's territory,
41:06he's just going to try and wipe out anything that isn't within his gene pool.
41:17What's that?
41:19Come on.
41:20This is Bungwe.
41:23He really needs to make a big effort to push this male out of the area
41:27and keep Ladiba and his offspring safe.
41:39They're both big, they're both powerful, and if these two males come into contact,
41:44it'd just be an all-out war.
41:55Bungwe is chasing him now.
41:56There is no happiness given to thiså·®äøå¤ as the sooner
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